A Minneapolis imaging company is hoping its MRI technology can become a magnet for investors.
Steady State Imaging recently disclosed that it's seeking to raise $4 million to continue refining and commercializing its technology, which enables MRI machines to image both soft and hard tissues. The fundraising round kicked off in October with the sale of $250,000 in equity,
according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The technology is a software platform called SWIFT (short for SWeep Imaging with Fourier Transformation), which was developed by Dr.
Michael Garwood at the University of Minnesota's
Center for Magnetic Resonance Research and can be installed on existing MRI machines, much like a firmware update can upgrade a cell phone or video game console.
Currently, MRI machines are good at imaging soft tissue in the body, such as your brain or muscles, but it's not the best option for imaging hard tissue like bone or cartilage. X-rays are still the most common method for imaging those harder tissues, despite the risks from ionizing (x-ray) radiation.
"Dr. Garwood's technique really broadens the applicability of MRI. It allows for really good imaging of hard and soft tissues," says Steady State Imaging CEO Danny Cunagin. "You can kind of think about his invention as combining an X-ray machine and an MRI machine in one device, without the ionizing radiation of X-rays."
Another benefit of the software is that it allows MRI machines to run much quieter than most do today, which makes it more patient-friendly, says Cunagin. It's currently for sale for in the pre-clinical market, and Cunagin says they expect to announce a clinical partner within the next three to four months.
Steady State Imaging was incorporated in 2005 and relaunched in 2008 under new leadership. It employs about half a dozen people at its office just west of downtown Minneapolis. Cunagin says the latest round of fundraising will allow the company to refine the software based on feedback from existing users, as well as prepare for commercialization in the clinical market.
Source: Danny Cunagin, Steady State Imaging
Writer:
Dan Haugen